


Ride With U | Skephalo

by honkphoenix



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: BadBoyHalo - Freeform, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Confessions, Dreams, Dreamsharing, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Hoodies, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, No beta we die like lmanburg, Not Beta Read, Phone Calls & Telephones, Skephalo, Slow Burn, Songfic, Zak Ahmed Loves Darryl Noveschosch, i dont know how to use ao3 lmao, skeppy - Freeform, skeppy having strange dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29459070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honkphoenix/pseuds/honkphoenix
Summary: Bad sends Skeppy a song. A song which sends him on a downward spiral, a song which incites strange dreams, strange interactions, and a suddenly tense friendship.Inspired by the song Ride With U by Smash Into Pieces.
Relationships: Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 53
Kudos: 222





	1. Glass Box

**Author's Note:**

> If you want, follow me on Twitter: @honkphoenix !! :) There might be a very slight mention of blood (but only in one sentence) but if there's any other warnings I'll add them.

“Skeppy,” Bad asked, “what’s your favourite song?”

“Why?” Skeppy asked, confused. 

“I don’t know,” Bad admitted, “I’ve just never asked you before.”

Bad’s minecraft character ran in circles around Skeppy’s, while Skeppy thought. 

“It’s funny how if someone asks me what my favourite thing is, I forget everything I’ve ever enjoyed in the past ten years,” Skeppy giggled, “but probably… Heat Waves by Glass Animals. What about you?”

“Me? I like this song, I’ll send it to you on Discord. It reminds me of you.” Bad said. Tabbing out of Minecraft, Skeppy clicked on Discord. 

“Aw, that’s sweet.” Skeppy said quietly. 

_ Smash Into Pieces - Ride With U (LYRIC VIDEO) _

Skeppy clicked out of Discord. He would play the video later, but he just wanted to chill out. It had been a stressful couple months, he had decided to take a break.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna get off Discord, I’ll listen to the song later, though.” Skeppy yawned, peering out his window. It was pitch black, just a couple flickering street lights which could hardly be seen because of the light inside the room. Smiling at his webcam, Skeppy felt the fatigue sink in, muddling his rational thoughts. 

“Say goodnight.” Bad pleaded.

“Goodnight, Bad. Love you.”

“Love you too.” his voice was soft. 

Clicking disconnect, Skeppy spun away from his PC. He felt drained, he had decided to record one video, for fun, before realising how exhausting it was. Opening his phone, he plugged in his earbuds to listen to the song Bad had sent. 

“Ride… with… you…” Skeppy mumbled to himself as he typed, and started playing the song. 

Flopping face up onto his bed, Skeppy heard the electric guitar playing through his ears. 

_ I feel like I’m burning when you look around and smile at me… _

Skeppy shot up, pausing the song. 

“What the fuck?” Skeppy shot out into the empty apartment. He pressed play, curious, but feeling a little bit ill. 

_ Feels like I’m, feels like I’m burning, burning _

Did Bad burn while talking to him? 

_ You are forbidden and it makes me want you even more… _

Skeppy paused the song and threw his phone against the wall, seeing the earbuds fly along with it. The rattle of the device whacking against the wall made him wince, but Skeppy decided against going and getting it. He was delirious. The song didn’t mean anything. It was cold, too. December had brought Christmas cheer and a Christmas crispy air. Snuggling into his sheets, Skeppy buried his face into his pillow. It meant  _ nothing.  _ The song did not mean anything to him. 

The warmth of the sheets comforted the mysterious unease that had formed like a disgusting parasite in his stomach. Skeppy had no feelings towards BadBoyHalo. 

“Bad.” he spat the name like it was a dreaded insult, a slur towards himself, but a deep part of his soul said something different. A noise which couldn’t quite be drowned out. 

He forcefully glued his eyes shut, as if blocking out the world outside would stop the raging warsite of the world inside his head. It was like, 12:30am. He had to sleep.

When his head hit his pillow, he fell directly into the gentle arms of dreamland, which cradled him to peace. 

Skeppy woke up in a glass box, a kilometre above a field which he could just vaguely see from his height. 

The box was about two-by-two metres, and it felt sickeningly claustrophobic. He could see the glass box lowering, slowly, slowly, down to the field. 

Skeppy sucked in air, but there was only just enough for him to breathe shallowly. 

As the box lowered to the ground, Skeppy saw a figure in the distance. A bit taller than him, by like half an inch. They approached the box, slowly, carefully. 

“Bad?” Skeppy coughed. Bad was wearing a black and red hood, a hunter outfit. Just like his Minecraft skin. Glasses were perched upon his nose, and a halo hovered over his head, a luminescent pale yellow. 

_ Skeppy!  _ Bad mouthed, but Skeppy couldn’t hear him. 

Skeppy tapped his ear as a signal that he couldn’t understand.

Bad started banging on the glass. 

“I’m trying to get to you Bad!” Skeppy screamed, but doubled over in coughs and wheezes from the poor amount of oxygen. He started banging against the glass wall too, the thuds in sync. Skeppy felt black spots on his vision as he used all his energy to get to his best friend. As the spots clouded his vision, Skeppy felt a moment of pure weakness, like all his energy just got taken from him at once. As he fell to the floor, body slumped against the glass prison, the walls simply fell apart. 

It was hazy, what happened next. Fast, gentle footsteps. Bad crouching by the grass. A gentle whisper of ‘Skeppy?’.

Bad held Skeppy tightly to his chest. Although Skeppy couldn’t hold him back, he didn’t even have the strength to open his eyes. His heart was beating quickly. Skeppy could even feel Bad’s breath ruffling his hair. 

Bad moved a bit away.

And kissed his forehead.


	2. Hot Shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy has a hot shower after his rough night. His shower speaker decides to unravel his relaxation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @honkphoenix :)

Skeppy woke up in cold sweats. 

“What the fuck.” Skeppy whispered to absolutely nobody. It felt like his heart had been shaken up in his ribcage. It beat way too fast to be healthy. 

He didn’t quite know what to think about his dream. It wasn’t a good emotion, clearly. But it definitely happened.

Skeppy also felt something else, similar to the distant voice when he had played  _ that  _ song for the first time. 

_ You wished he was here. You liked that, didn’t you, Zak? _

Skeppy subconsciously shut down the voice. 

“I didn’t enjoy that.” Skeppy muttered to himself. 

Everyone has weird dreams. In fact, some dreams people have can totally change the perception of the other person involved.

It was  _ normal.  _

Skeppy gulped and decided the best option was to just… 

He didn’t know. 

_ A shower! _ His mind whirred. 

After practically leaping into his en suite, Skeppy put on some music. Unfortunately, his shower speaker started playing the last played song on his phone… which happened to be ‘Ride With U’. It started playing from where it left off. 

As warm water engulfed the poor stressed out boy, the rhythmic thump of the snare did not help his thoughts. 

_ Feels like I’m burning, burning _

_ I know it’s just a thing in my head _

The song was a little bit too accurate for Skeppy’s liking. The whole kissing thing? Just a little figment of his imagination. A passing illusion. Nothing more, nothing less.

So why couldn’t he stop  _ thinking? _

_ It’s haunting me until the very end… _

The song, once again, with the accuracy of his morning. Would he stop thinking about it? Maybe he could record another video to take his mind off it. Or do some editing. 

But whatever the importance of this dream was, it seemed to have struck a chord deep in his soul. 

_ I wanna take you for a ride _

_ You’ll be Bonnie, I’ll be Clyde _

_ Two criminals on the run, but they won’t hunt us down _

_ Don’t care about every law we break _

_ And the trouble that we’ll make _

_ There’s nothing I wouldn’t do _

The song was about romance, but this verse made Skeppy feel a familiar sense of friendship. This must be why Bad sent him the song. 

_ As long as I can do _

_ You, you, you, you, you _

Skeppy’s whole face blushed tomato red. 

“Jesus Christ.” Skeppy gasped, his thoughts rushing in all at once. 

“WHY!” Skeppy yelled into his showerhead, “DO I HAVE TO OVERTHINK EVERYTHING?”

Punching the glass walls of his shower, Skeppy felt an all too familiar sensation. He pulled back his hands as fast as he threw them. 

“Nevermind.”

_ I’ll do anything to take a ride with you, you _

_ I just wanna ride with you _

Skeppy felt defeated. So he’s over-thought things. Had a strange dream. And Bad wants him in his next video, which he needed to record… today?

Skeppy paused his shower speaker and just tried his hardest to relax. But it was difficult. 

Washing his face and towelling off, Skeppy got into a generic light blue tee and jeans, and put on a blue hoodie of his own merch, the hood drooped down below his shoulders.

Clicking on Discord, he shakily clicked the ‘call’ button on Bad’s name.

The familiar tune played, it felt like a warning sign to Skeppy. 

_ Connecting to call… _

“Skeppy!” Bad said enthusiastically, but the cry of his internet persona name made his heart ache. 

“Bad…!” Skeppy tried to deliver the same enthusiasm, but failed miserably. 

“Hey… are you alright?”

“Just a rough night. Don’t worry about it,” Skeppy assured, he didn’t want to hurt someone because of his strange dreams. Especially not his best friend. 

_ Friend.  _ The word felt odd to think about. 

“Skepppyyy? Are you paying attention?” Bad snapped him back to the real world. 

“Oops! Like I said, rough night.”

“Yeah, apparently.” Bad snobbed. Skeppy could hear the eyeroll in his sassy tone. 

“I listened to the song you sent me.”

The tension suddenly skyrocketed. 

“Oh, did you?” Bad asked, his voice a somewhat different tone. Slightly softer, but confident. 

“The lyrics…” Skeppy murmured, even Bad could hardly hear it. 

Skeppy heard a gulp on the other end. 

“You’ll be Bonnie, I’ll be Clyde, right?” Bad said. 

“Yeah! Best friends!” Skeppy was trying to give confidence back to the call, but mostly just reassured himself. 

“Best friends.” Bad said. 

“So, the video is a building competition, right?” Skeppy convieniently changed the topic, much to the relief of everyone involved. 

“Yep.” Bad said quickly. 

Time had passed, Skeppy felt vaguely reassured about his dream. Mostly. 

They had a competition with one hundred players to build a duck. Whoever made the best duck got one hundred dollars.

“I made a duck!” Skeppy said excitedly, teleporting Bad over to him, “I called it BadBoyHalo because it’s very cute.” 

The call went dead silent. 

Normally, this would be okay, because they made these jokes all the time. What’s a friendship if you don’t jokingly flirt a bit, right? But the situation they were in made the whole thing… awkward. Skeppy grinned, I mean, if he was gonna do this, might as well just carry on the bit.

“I mean… thank you, you muffin!” Bad said cutely, but he sounded different.

“Awww, does poor widdle Bad not like compliments? Is it too scawwy?”

The stream chat went wild with ‘LMAOOOOs’ as Bad furiously hit Skeppy’s avatar. 

Grabbing a flint and steel from his inventory, Skeppy set the duck on fire, the clay blocks sending smoke up above the competition. 

“Why did you do that?!” Bad cried out, trying to extinguish the flames. “YOU JUST SET DUCKIE ME ON FIRE!”

Skeppy felt a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. It made him feel ill. Like he was about to jump off a cliff with a tiny trampoline at the bottom. The next line could make it really… really awkward. Or it might land. 

_ Because you’re burning hot,  _ is what Skeppy wanted to say.

“B-Because you’re a demon, right?” Skeppy spluttered out, choking on his words.

“Ohhh, okay!” Bad kept the flames and started flying a particularly amazing duck from a user called  _ RosePhoenix1_1,  _ who had built a blue diamond duck with a little red and black duck on top. 

Skeppy could not describe the emotion he felt. It was a relief, mostly. Like he had just stepped away from his doom. But a small, slight trickle of regret was clouding his thoughts. 

“It’s us! Look!” Bad said happily, placing down a sign saying ‘ _ your build looks great ^_^’  _

Skeppy swallowed his thoughts and tried to smile. 

“Hey, you okay?” Bad asked kindly. Skeppy couldn’t even answer him. 


	3. Pillow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy has a late-night conversation with a certain person. A person who sends some voice messages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @honkphoenix !!
> 
> Enjoy!

The rest of the recording seemed to go slowly. The feelings in Skeppy’s soul remained untouched, but they festered, spiralling his thoughts into a raging cyclone of anger and regret. 

Even long after the recording had ceased, Skeppy had sat there feeling glum. 

Opening his phone (which he noted, had a small crack in the side from his late-night phone throwing), he opened messages.

_ Bad: hey skeppy, u okay? U seemed a bit off 2day :( was it something i said? _

Skeppy felt panic wiggle into the whirl of emotion, he didn’t want Bad to think that he was doing something bad. 

_ Yeah, I’m fine thank u, if it was smthng u said i would have told u :)) wbu? How r u?  _

It definitely was something Bad did, but Skeppy chose to ignore it. 

A long moment passed while Skeppy was left on read. He gazed out the window, a couple of hazy pink streaks were falling below a sky of black and blue. 

_ I probably have to deal with that dream soon,  _ he thought. Moments of introspection about himself were rare for Skeppy. He would rather just be loud and funny, ignore his feelings, and be okay to the outside world. 

_ Or I could just… not.  _ Skeppy decided, ignoring the alarms flashing on in his brain. 

_ Bad: Voice Message _

Skeppy felt his heart skip a beat at the notification. 

_ No. Shut up,  _ he scolded himself.  __

Opening the message, Bad’s voice started to play into his earbuds. 

“Hiiii Skeppy,” Bad’s sleepy voice said, “I’m too tired to type but… I’m good, I just fed Rat, I’m feeling very sleepy and I know it’s only early but I’m probably going to go to bed soon…” his soft voice trailed off. 

He didn’t feel like sending a voice message back. He would probably screw that up somehow. Instead, he decided to take a risk over text. 

_ Your sleepy voice is cute  _

Skeppy already knew a ticking time-bomb was ready to detonate on this conversation. 

“Oh, is it now? Thank you.” the voice of Bad replied, “I’d like to hear you when you’re sleepy.”

_ If we meet up you can hear my sleepy voice irl  _

“Hehe… we should do that soon…”

_ I can’t wait _

_ There’s nothing more I want in the world _

“Awww, Skeppy, thank you… that means the world to me. Like you.”

Skeppy felt his fragile heartstrings being played like a damn violin. 

Did he want that?

_ You mean the world to me _

_ And the stars _

Skeppy almost wanted to vomit at the sickly sweet cringe he just sent. But he was going to make an exception for Bad.

“Same to you, Skeppyy… what are you doing right now?”

_ I’m hugging a pillow _

_ What abt u _

“If only the pillow was me.”

Skeppy slammed his phone down onto the bed.

He picked up the pillow he was cuddling and threw it across the room, like he had just unknowingly committed a crime and had just become aware of it. 

The bomb had already gone off, he had ignored the sirens, and now it was like it had exploded all of his thoughts. Every single thought in his head was ‘if only that pillow was me.’

Does he ignore the alarms? Does he… his mind struggled to process.

_ Does he have a shot? _

Grabbing his phone once again, Skeppy struggled to conjure up something to say.

_ Suddenly this pillow just become 2000 times more huggable _

“Hehe… if only. We need to meet up sooooon.”

_ Trueeeee but it’s not my fault u keep deciding to cancel it u dummy _

“That’s true, but I kinda really wanna do it now.”

_ That’s a topic for the morning ._. I’m too tired to think rn _

_ Goodnight bad  _

_ Ily <3 _

“I love you too, sleep well…”

Skeppy placed his phone down on the bedside table and grabbed his trusty pillow once more.

_ We can only pray I don’t have any strange dreams tonight,  _ Skeppy thought, clutching his pillow and drifting gently into sleep. 


	4. Convertible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy has another strange dream, involving a mysterious highway and a convertible with a certain unnamed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @honkphoenix :))

He woke up in a convertible, driving on the highway. Streetlights ran by him, stars twinkling. The last streak of dark orange was just about to slip away below the horizon. 

“This isn’t so bad…” Skeppy said aloud, alone on the highway, just… driving.

At least he thought he was alone.

“Zak?” a voice said.

Skeppy swerved, before adjusting and swiftly pulling over to the side of the road. 

“Not again…” he said, turning to face the person in the car next to him. Bad’s eyes looked at him, kindly. He was wearing an oversized hoodie and baggy tracksuit pants.

“I wanted nothing more than to ride with you.” Bad said gently, grabbing Skeppy’s hands and putting them on the steering wheel, indicating he should start driving. 

Skeppy flinched at the contact, but didn’t pull away. Without doing a single thing, the car just began to move, driving itself.

“Woah woah woah woah-” 

“Hey, calm down. This is all just pretend, a figment of your imagination.” Bad said, scarily aware.

“Huh?” Skeppy said, taken aback. 

“You know what isn’t pretend, Zak?” Bad whispered, looking at him with a look that Skeppy had never even seen before.

_ Since when did Bad call him Zak?  _

“I’m not just a figment, Zak. I’m more than anything your imagination could conjure up.” Bad murmured, sending shivers down Skeppy’s spine. 

Skeppy couldn’t even do anything, he just smiled nervously at Bad. 

Just looking at him, Skeppy’s heart skipped a beat. The wind rushing through his hair, his eyes piercing through his soul with a plotting smirk. 

_ This wasn’t the Bad he knew.  _

He definitely was not complaining, though.

Bad leaned into Skeppy’s ear. Chills sent shockwaves through his body.

“It feels like I’m burning when you look around and smile at me…”

Skeppy gulped, “feels like I’m burning…”

“You are forbidden and it makes me want you even more…” Bad slowly whispered, pulling away from Skeppy’s ear. 

They looked at each other in the eyes, it was like the internet personalities were gone, leaving two separate, new people. 

They both knew what was meant to happen. 

To his own surprise, Skeppy leaned in first.

It was like an explosion of emotion had just gone off in his heart. Skeppy ran his hands through Bad’s hair, soft to the touch. He never wanted to leave this moment, but it was his friend, but it just felt so right-

Skeppy had jolted out of bed. He felt tears on his cheeks. 

He felt almost disappointed, leaving the gentle, hazy, peaceful dream world. 

But he also felt disgusted. 

He lumbered over to his bathroom sink, feeling so many emotions. He had felt so many emotions recently. He hated it. It was like he was sinking into the deep ocean.

So beautiful. 

So dangerous. 

He wanted to be back in his dream. Maybe with someone else?

No, that wasn’t it. 

But like… it was his friend. It was gross.

He decided the best way to solve his problem was to call someone close to him. Spifey, maybe?

Opening his phone, which lay on his bedside table, he called Spifey.

“Hi, Spifey?” he said, but it was so obvious he sounded panicked.

“Yeah man, what’s up? Isn’t it like 7am for you?”

“Yeah, but… listen. I had this dream, alright? And you have to promise not to say anything to anyone.” Skeppy rushed. 

“Alright, yeah, sure! What happened?”

Skeppy explained the dreams. The glass box. The highway. The kisses. And how he wanted more, but wanted less at the same time. Spifey did nothing but go ‘oh’, and say ‘uh-huh’ at appropriate times, until Skeppy was done.

“You definitely have feelings for him, dude. There is no doubt about it. And not like ‘ooh, we’re such good  _ friends, _ ’ but like, ‘like-like’ feelings.” Spifey guessed.

“I DO NOT.” Skeppy said defiantly.

“No one has this much emotional turmoil about someone they like platonically,” Spifey said firmly, “and you asked me for advice, about  _ your  _ feelings! And from what you have so kindly explained, I think you have a thing for him.”

“SPIFEY!” 

“Fight me about it. I’m gonna eat my chips in peace. See ya, dude. If you need to call me, let me know.”

Skeppy put down his phone. 

Spifey wasn’t wrong. Skeppy simply did not want to hear it. 

He decided to call Bad. At this point, he couldn’t even look at him the same way. 

So what more did he have to lose?

“Skeppy.” Bad said, sounding… off.

“Hey, are you alright?” Skeppy asked, concerned. 

“Listen,” he could hear a loud gulp from the other end, “please, just don’t make fun of me, okay?”

“I’m listening, judgement free.” Skeppy assured him.

“I had… this dream…”

Skeppy felt his heart simply stop pumping, his lungs stop breathing, his thoughts stop thinking, and just let out a shaky breath, “continue?”

“And we were… on this road.”

“Y-yeah?”

“And… I,” he paused, “don’t make fun of me for this. But I kissed you.”

Skeppy felt the world simply disappear. It felt like a life or death moment, just then. 

His life flashed before his eyes. Everything felt so still, but his heart pumped so fast it was like a jackhammer about to destroy his ribs.

“I…” Skeppy desperately tried to gulp air, but it felt hoarse in his throat, “I had the same dream.”

“No way,” Bad said quickly, sounding embarrased, “you’re lying.”

“I’m not just a figment.” Skeppy recited back, and he heard a crackle of air in his speakers and a thud as the phone was dropped. 

Skeppy felt a flush of shame course through his body. 

_ He’s fucked it up now. Goodbye two years of friendship. _

“Skeppy? How did… How did you feel? About… you know, nevermind.” Bad sighed.

“N-No, I’ll tell you how I felt.” Skeppy said defiantly, tossing his sheets to the side. 

“You don’t have to, Skeppy-”

“I had no regrets kissing you back.”

Skeppy heard crackling and the disconnect sound rang defeatingly in his ears.

A hot flush charged through his veins again, his blood white hot, sweat beading at the back of his neck. His sheets became sticky and tangling, so he got out of bed and washed the nervousness away. 

“FUCK!” he screamed, dropping his phone onto the tiles with shaky hands and falling after it. 

Skeppy felt black in his vision as he cried into unconsciousness.

Skeppy woke up with a sore neck on his bathroom floor. He nervously checked his phone, which had another screen crack added to the collection. 

Everything hurt. Inside and out. 

_ 9:23am. _

He’d been out for a couple hours. 

Skeppy grabbed hold of his sink, and felt his bones crack and whine as he pulled himself up. 

He turned around to check the spot where he fell and was surprised to see a small wipe of blood on the floor. 

He had no motivation to clean it. 

He wanted to suffocate in the ocean. Let the thoughts die. 

Let the car on the highway steer into the muddy ditch of forgetting. 

_ BadBoyHalo: we still have to record a video, skeppy _

_ BadBoyHalo: we can forget this ever happened _

_ BadBoyHalo: Skeppy? _

The notifications sent fiery dread through his veins. He wanted to be in bed, a couple days ago, when the electric guitar in his head didn’t play, the lyrics didn’t sing themselves on loop in his brain. 

Skeppy felt ill, but of course, the show must go on. The show always had to go on. The viewers needed their content, and Skeppy needed to toughen up. 

He looked at himself in the mirror, analysing every pore on his face. Every blemish, imperfection, hair out of place. He didn’t hate himself for the black-haired, tan-skinned, enthusiastic boy on the outside. He hated the strange, obsessed, awkward mess on the inside. 

It didn’t matter, though. Skeppy just had to force a smile, a loud scream and an excited laugh. The audience didn’t see the inside. They only saw the outside. 

He picked up his phone, clicking Bad’s notifications.

_ Hey Bad _

_ I’ll record a vid w u  _

He breathed a sigh of relief as he put his phone on the counter. Hopefully there was none of that thick tension that was like food for the pool of guilt in his stomach. Skeppy had no motivation to record anything for Bad, but if he couldn’t keep his emotions constant, he could at least keep up his work. 

Skeppy was pleasantly surprised. 

“Hey Bad!” 

“Sgeppy!” Bad chirped, his Minecraft avatar shifting quickly next to his. 

“In this video, we’re recording a Christmas special, because Christmas is in a week!” Bad explained, “and our lovely viewers are here, and we’re going to get some of you to participate! Essentially, it’s a Christmas Talent Show.”

Skeppy moved to reveal a large stage, decked out in blocky decorations, and three pixelated seats were built below the stage. Skeppy took his place in the seat. 

“And of course, I’m here with Skeppy and Spifey! Vurb might join later, I don’t know.”

Spifey’s avatar sat next to his. 

Skeppy swallowed. Spifey needed to shut up and do his job. No mention of dreams, highways, convertibles, kisses, anything. He needed to be quiet. 

“Why hello.”

Skeppy looked at Spifey. The whole video was resting on him now. 

He gulped, the tension was back. He just had to survive a couple hours. 

A couple of hours. He’ll be fine. 

Skeppy wasn’t fine. 

He was, for a while, listening to ten-year-olds sing shitty songs, turn on their facecam to juggle, show some cool fanart, and that was stomachable. Spifey had shut up, giving some sweet comments while Skeppy gave negative ones. 

They had just listened to someone sing ‘Jingle Bells’, full of voice cracks and completely off key. 

“I think if you did some singing lessons, you could be great!” Spifey chirruped, “potential!”

“That was  _ horrible. _ ” Skeppy snarled, and Bad furiously hit him in-game. 

“Sgeppyyyyy…” he whined, giving an apologetic nod to the avatar on stage. 

“Next!” Skeppy smirked, before releasing a loud laugh. 

_ You whispered to Spifey: that was shit _

_ Spifey whispered to you: ik but i didn’t wanna be mean _

_ Spifey whispered to you: unlike u, i have a filter  _

Skeppy chuckled at the interaction in the game chat, before focusing back on the stage, seeing an avatar with a red and blue hoodie and blue jeans walk on to the stage. 

“This is Phoenix.” Bad commented, turning his avatar to the two boys next to him, before turning back.

_ Skephalo colours-  _

Skeppy stopped the thought before it started. He was NOT thinking about Bad today. 

“Hey guys! I’m sorry if I stuff up, I’m so excited to be here-” a girl’s voice said, before she was heard taking a deep breath in, “sorry, I’m going to be singing Ride With U by Smash Into Pieces, I know it’s not necessarily Christmas related but I heard Bad likes the song!”

Skeppy felt his heart stop beating. Time seemed to suspend all the movements in the game, and in his suddenly humid room. 

“Oh.” is all Bad had to murmur. The beast in Skeppy’s stomach was ready to feed on his guilt, his wanting. 

“Go ahead!” Spifey said enthusiastically, but the tension was already high. It was strung in high metal wires, wrapping around Skeppy’s throat. 

“Feels like I’m burning when you look around and smile at me…” Phoenix began. It was some of the best singing Skeppy had heard in the competition, and instead of appreciating the girl on the call, all he could do was hear the amplified meaning. 

Bad was like a ghost, he haunted the inner workings of his brain. He was controlled by the beast in him, wanting more, needing more, needing  _ him.  _

“You are forbidden and it makes me want you even more…” Phoenix continued, and Skeppy almost put down his headset. He could hear an uncomfortable noise from Bad, but he stopped and coughed. 

He didn’t want these feelings back. Normally they rested as an uncomfortable, quiet static but now it was like the feelings were ringing in his ears. 

He was haunted by the possibility of Bad. He was scared of the possibility one day he could go too far, say a joke too rude, kiss him too hard-

The sudden noise of a Discord disconnect startled Skeppy to his senses. 

“Could get DMCA’ed.” Bad grunted, providing no further explanation. He made another quiet  _ hmm  _ of discomfort, before muting and deafening on Discord.

“Is he good?” Spifey asked, totally flabbergasted by the past thirty seconds, “is this the-”

“Yeah.” Skeppy interrupted, finishing the sentence for him. It was that, the tension between them that was like a third person pushing them together. The strange feeling they both recognised, but never spoke of. 

“Should we end the recording?” Spifey suggested, his voice tapering higher at the end of the question, and Skeppy was silent as Spifey rattled out a message on his computer. 

_ <Spifey> Hey Bad, u good? _

_ <BadBoyHalo> Just ended the recording _

_ <BadBoyHalo> Thanks _

_ BadBoyHalo left the game _

“So,” Spifey murmured, “rough patch, huh?”

Skeppy let out a frustrated snort and disconnected from the call, slamming his metal headset down onto his desk. He wanted to take the pillow he slept with and throw it across the room, he wished he could put all his emotions into the pillow and shred it, shred the feelings he wished he never had. 

He hated his emotions, he didn’t need them, he didn’t want to need them anymore. 

“Bad is a fr-” he tried to speak, but faltered. The word  _ friend  _ felt filthy, clearly there was something between them. He couldn’t quite place it. 

He didn’t want Bad, but he…

The emotions were unreadable. 

“Bad is a person. Who will never see me. I will never visit him.” he spoke slowly, but even his own words stung him. Bad would never see Skeppy, let alone kiss him. 

Skeppy felt tears sting the corners of his retinas. He was pathetic, so annoyingly pathetic. He was crying over his friend who was more of a co-worker, nothing more, nothing less. 

“F-friends. We are friends.” Skeppy whimpered out loud, feeling the tears run lines down his face. Skeppy knew this wouldn’t be the last time. 

_ Maybe I should sleep. _

_ You’re a fucking idiot, all you want is to see him. Is that why? _

Nevertheless, he decided to get into bed, weakly crawling under his sheets, suffocating with his sweat. He kicked off the fabric and checked his phone, seeing  _ 12:37pm  _ flash up on his display. He was too tired, he would take a nap.

Instead of wishing for a normal sleep, Skeppy only wanted to be with him. Because if he couldn’t meet Bad in real life, but he had his dreams, and for now, it was enough. 


	5. No Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy has another dream, except it's a little more peaceful. However, after he confronts Bad about his feelings, it goes... interestingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @honkphoenix :)

Skeppy woke up in a forest. It was dark, like pitch black dark, but in the distance he could see the glow of light in the distance. He decided to run, the brambles intertwining in his black hair, cuts decorating his skin from thorns. He was almost there- he could see it, almost touch the light-

He yelped as a large root made him flip over, and he squinted as he expected to feel the hard thump of his head against the grass. He instead kept falling, his stomach twisted about thirty times over. Wind rushed past him, sending nauseating whistles into his brain.

When he eventually landed, it wasn’t as painful as expected. It was obviously frightening, he felt his breath forcefully erupt from his chest in a gasp, his lungs were almost disabled until he sucked in a shaky breath. 

His eyelids felt heavy, his breaths more so. He wasn’t dead, no bones were broken, but Skeppy felt like he was dead-weighted to the floor. 

It was still too dark to see. The only light was a small hole metres above him, the assumed place where he had fallen. 

He could hear footsteps. 

“Hello?” he called out, hearing echoes and a crunch of twigs near his head.

“Sgeppy?” 

“Bad?” Skeppy exhaled in relief. He blinked as the cavern suddenly seemed a little less dark, now resting at a comfortable dimness which meant Bad’s silhouette was vaguely illuminated. Bad was kneeled next to him. 

“It hurts.” he whimpered, burying his face into Bad’s leg. 

“Awww, come here, sweet baby.” Bad whispered, dragging the weak boy into his arms, pulling him to his chest.

_ Baby. _

“I’m all cut up.” Skeppy whined into Bad’s black and red hoodie, and felt warmth surround him as Bad clung to him tighter. 

“Don’t worry… awww. Here, eat.” he could feel himself being pulled away, and he shakily held a small red apple. His hands were moved up to his face. 

Skeppy took a small bite. And another.

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Bad whispered, and watched as the olive-skinned boy trembling beneath him took another bite. 

Skeppy felt a little bit of motivation seep into the cracks and dents in his soul. He managed to lift himself up.

“See? You’re doing great, baby.” Bad murmured quietly. 

Skeppy’s thoughts spilled out to his words, “Baby?”

Bad nodded gently, before revealing a large basket. The hole in which he fell suddenly became light, revealing tall stone walls. The floor was made of a lush green grass, and he lay on a picnic blanket, checkered blue and white. Red toadstools were forming in spots around the floor.

The older man opened the basket, revealing bread and spreads. 

“See? You’re going to be okay.” Bad whispered. 

“Come back…” Skeppy whined, scooting over to Bad. Bad moved his legs for Skeppy to sit inbetween them, and wrapped his arms around Skeppy’s waist. 

_ This is NOT happening. Oh my god.  _

He snuggled into the warmth of Bad’s hoodie. He felt safe here, warm.  _ Loved. _

Suddenly Skeppy heard a tune from his right. He turned around, making Bad yelp. It didn’t stop.

What was that noise-

He snapped open his eyes.

_ Timer! Timer! Timer! _

Oh yeah, he had set his timer so he wouldn’t sleep the day away. Fuck.

Skeppy weakly got out of bed, missing the warmth of his bedsheets and the warmth of Bad’s comfortable hoodie, his pet names. 

“Oh my god…” he mumbled, sighing as he stretched. 

He was deep down the rabbit hole, huh? Almost like the deep hole of his obsessions mirrored the deep pit of his dream. 

He needed to fill that pit with soil. Bury it. Bad is a co-worker for Skeppy. 

_ But his hoodie… _

Skeppy loved his job at times. Now was one of those times. 

He could sit and edit a video for hours on end, never thinking about other people, just adding shake effects and subtitles and music. Every time Bad spoke in his video, he simply shut out every other thought and continued to edit. 

He was happy with his video, and he was ready to post it. The thumbnail was an amalgamation of colours and effects, with large text. 

Skeppy’s content was broken with a Discord call.

_ BadBoyHalo: Incoming Call _

Skeppy swallowed. He can do this. 

“Hello?” Bad said, before adjusting his headset. 

“Hi. What’s up?” Skeppy asked, his voice ever-so-slightly strained, but Bad either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it.

“I was wondering if I could send you one of my merch hoodies? Because you’re my friend, obviously I just wanted to get the heads up!” Bad said calmly, but Skeppy’s heart rattled like a drum.

“O-oh yeah! Of course!” Skeppy muttered, tripping over his words.

“Alrighty, can you just send your address? I’m sure I’ve sent you merch before, I just haven’t been bothered to look for it, haha.” Bad rambled, before Skeppy clicked out a message on his keyboard and DMed his address to the eager man.

Bad took a deep breath, “also. Can you just explain, what is  _ up  _ with you right now?”

The question, in its harsh tone, sent nervous shivers down Skeppy’s spine. 

“W-what do you mean?” Skeppy felt tears burn the corners of his eyes, he nervously leant back in his chair. 

“You’re being all- weird! You’ve never been this-” Bad’s voice dropped to a whisper, “well,  _ flirtatious,  _ you muffin!”

Skeppy almost felt his heart drop out of his chest and onto the floor. 

“Is it making you uncomfortable?” Skeppy asked frankly, he wanted to fall into a pit and die. 

Skeppy heard nervous crackles on the other side of the call, “well… I guess not.”

He almost cried from the pure euphoria that sentence gave him.

“But the viewers- what will they think?” Bad cried, but even his voice was unconvincing. 

“So…” Skeppy felt his voice lower, “you like it?”

He could have died right then and there. He was taking the leap, and maybe, just maybe, a different kind of Bad was at the bottom of the chasm. 

“I…” Bad sighed, “I guess.”

“You like when I flirt with you, huh. I guess that really tells me something about you and I.” Skeppy murmured. He was a dumbass. He was so fucking stupid, doing this. 

“No- Skeppy, I-” Bad tried to persist. 

“Oh Bad, why didn’t you just say something sooner, huh? With the song, and the dreams. It should have been obvious, Bad.”

“S-Skeppy-”

“Don’t play dumb, Bad. There’s something here. Maybe you just need to admit it. C’mon, no pressure.” Skeppy chuckled, leaning further back into his chair.

Skeppy felt a smirk flourish over his face, and hot blush seeped into his cheeks. 

A Discord disconnect sound broke his high. 

“H-huh?” Skeppy stammered, seeing the notification  _ BadBoyHalo is typing… _

_ BadBoyHalo: Skeppy, I’ll still send you the hoodie. But we’re not filming together until further notice.  _

_ BadBoyHalo: I’m sorry. _

Skeppy didn’t even care. So what, he had been let on? It happened. He was a dumb piece of shit. 

_ Skeppy; alright. _

_ Skeppy: no pressure :) _

The ‘no pressure’ mimicked the last sentence Skeppy had said to him on the call, and he was sure Bad had picked that up.

So, a hoodie was arriving to Skeppy’s door soon. Nice.


	6. Tick Tock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy recieves his hoodie, but it's a little different from most merch... and Bad doesn't like the consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter (@honkphoenix)! The chapter after this is a bit sp-sp-spicy amen

The next couple days felt like wading through a deep, menacing swamp of emotions. Skeppy kept having the same dream, falling down a large rabbit hole, except every time he fell down it was like the hole went deeper and deeper. 

Eventually, he had released a couple videos by himself, without Bad. And then Christmas Eve-Eve came around.

Skeppy, much to his dismay, was going to be alone on Christmas Day. Maybe he could drink away the loneliness, let the alcohol fill the family-shaped hole in his heart. None of his friends were free, either, because they all had family events. 

He had decided to leave the house, which was uncommon for Skeppy, considering he was a Minecraft YouTuber. What he didn’t expect to see as he cracked open the door late at night, was a package. The late night air blew nicely onto his face. 

_ From Bad,  _ he thought.  _ Guess I’m not going out right now. _

He felt his heart thunder as he picked up the package, putting it on his kitchen counter and grabbing a craft knife. He carved a slit through the cardboard, hungry for the free clothing.

A note was at the top of the pile of clothes.

_ Hey Skeppy. I hope we can start working together soon. Anyway, they didn’t have any extra hoodies due to pre-orders, so I gave you one of my own. It’s pretty new, don’t worry! I only wore it like twice :3 Hopefully I can send you a new one once the pre-orders have come out!! Don’t show this card to anyone, it would be AWKWARD >_> \- BadBoyHalo _

Skeppy felt a blush spread across his face as he grabbed the hoodie. 

_ It was BAD’s hoodie.  _

He pulled the red and black hoodie out from the box, and admired the large black and red hoodie. Like in his dream. 

Skeppy grabbed his phone and began recording, filming the contents of the box. It was his hoodie and a little badge, which read  _ BadBoyHalo community members  _ in small gold lettering. 

He added it to his Instagram story, with the caption ‘Loving the new merch @BadBoyHalo!’

He also posted it on Twitter, where he was astounded by how many comments flooded in at once. 

Skeppy clicked on his post, seeing the top replies. 

@SK3PPYSB48Y: Can y’all see the card- KASJLKDJHSL

He clicked his timeline, and saw one of his fans post a very, VERY HD screenshot of the small card that came with the box.

@HAPPYTWTXD: I- bad sent skeppy one of his hoodies

@GNFSUGAR: god i hate the gays skeppy is wearing bad’s hoodie

@turtleboyxoxox: happytwt, how yall doing?

  1. _OH._



Skeppy rushed to his computer, tapping out a message to Bad.

_ Skeppy: They saw the note _

_ BadBoyHalo: fudge _

He could almost laugh at the ridiculousness of his situation. His private life, exposed. Particularly the very raw part of said private life which would end up a detriment to his career.

_ BadBoyHalo: can’t do anything now. Fanart incoming _

Skeppy chuckled. Maybe if the viewers manifested their wishes hard enough, it could come true. 

_ WAIT! The HOODIE! _

Skeppy almost tripped over his own shoes to run back to the kitchen, his heart screaming out for the hoodie. His emotions and his brain were at war, one screaming out to protect his identity, the other wanting to hold Bad’s hoodie tight and never let go until the real Bad would hold him. 

He had long stopped listening to his logic. 

Skeppy grabbed the red and black hoodie, and bundled it in his arms. He paused, and buried his face into it. 

It smelled like him. There was no way in hell that Bad had only worn it twice. 

The sweet smell of Bad almost nauseated him with happiness. Soft, warm, smells good. 

Skeppy pulled the hoodie over his head, and almost passed out from how happy he felt. It was an XL. 

_ Oh, I see you now, Bad, you asshole. You ordered an EXTRA LARGE and then you wore it to send it to me. _

Skeppy grabbed his phone, and opened his camera, delicately balancing it on his kitchen window. He turned on the timer option, tapping the camera button and posing, putting up his hands in little sweater paws. 

He grabbed the phone again, and clicked a message, sending the photo to Bad.

Skeppy was an utter piece of shit, but he liked it. The only way to get Bad’s heart, apparently, was to steal it. 

_ BadBoyHalo: awww, glad to see u like the merch :) _

Skeppy sighed. He really was hoping for a different reaction. 

Bad just liked to play hard-to-get, but if he liked that, Skeppy was gonna play hard. 

Skeppy had been idling at his computer for the past ten minutes. He could send the tweet, and break the internet. Or he could leave it.

‘Thanks Bad, for your hoodie :3 smells like u’ the caption read.

The picture of him in Bad’s hoodie. And then a picture of him in the hoodie, but in a different pose. 

He could do it, click the button, play harder than he had ever played before, make everyone lose their minds.

Or he could have some dignity. 

“Okay, I don’t really have dignity anymore.” Skeppy admitted to himself. 

_ Would this make Bad like him more? Or make him despise him? _

Maybe Skeppy wanted to take that risk. He felt the fuse being lit, sizzling closer and closer to his doom. Tick tock. Tick tock. 

His heart began to beat fast. Does he do it?

Tick tock.

His finger wobbled over the mouse. One click and it’s over. 

Tick tock. 

Tick.

Tock.

It wasn’t worth it. He decided to put his hand on the mouse moving it away-

He applied pressure to the wrong area. It began to send.

_ FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! _

The notification displayed. Your tweet has been sent. 

Tick tock.

Skeppy urgently deleted the Tweet, but it was too late. With a single refresh of his timeline, he could see screenshots. 

@GOGMEISTASIMP: YALL THE CAPTION I-

He felt his mind explode, the fuse detonated. 

_ INCOMING CALL: BADBOYHALO _

He clicked accept. 

“SKEPPY!” Bad’s urgent voice sent dread running through every vein. 

“Listen- I tried to click delete but-” Skeppy pleaded, but was interrupted.

“No ‘listen’, you sent those photos to the world- screenshots are everywhere!” Bad grumbled. 

Skeppy sighed, but almost felt himself explode when he heard an almost purr-like sound coming from Bad.

Emotions, thoughts, EVERYWHERE.

“Listen, Skeppy, I’m the only person who should have seen those photos,” his voice was low, “you in my hoodie. You’re adorable, you know that?” 

Skeppy felt his breath leave his lungs. His thoughts filled and left his brain all at once.

“Th-thank you…” 

“Huh? Did you hear that, Skeppy? Those photos of you are for me  _ only.  _ You looking all pretty, huh?” Bad almost growled. 

Skeppy suddenly understood how Bad felt a couple days ago. He felt shame, and some other distinctive emotion. Something like love. Something like  _ want. _

“When I left you all those days ago, when I disconnected from the call. I just wanted you to miss me. Guess you were down pretty bad, posting your face all over the internet in my hoodie. Emphasis on  _ my. _ ” 

Skeppy’s face was hot, “what are you implying?”

“Mine. You’re mine, Skeppy.” Bad hissed. 

Skeppy slammed his fist down on the disconnect button, and felt every emotion rush through him at once, like a volcano had just spilled over the edge of its mountain. 

He exhaled deeply.  _ Mine. Mine. Mine. _

Skeppy wondered if he had the audacity to call back. Would Bad still speak to him like he was just now? Or would he pick up his online persona, pretend it never happened. What if he posted  _ more  _ photos? Kept up the act?

How far could he push it?

How many more times could this new BadBoyHalo come through before it was his limit?

Skeppy once again took his phone from his desk, and snapped a couple more pictures in the hoodie, again with sweater paws. He seemed to be pushing the right buttons, and he was going to slam them until they broke. 

He took a deep inhale of the fabric, and clicked the ‘Upload to Twitter’ button. 

“Oops,” he read as he typed the caption, “didn’t mean to delete the last one. Enjoy these pictures of me in Bad’s hoodie… then a winky face. Perfect!” 

Skeppy decided to add the cherry on top. He put #Skephalo at the end of the tweet.

He was like a little toddler, trying to get a rise out of Bad. He was being a little bitch on purpose, so he would get back the Bad he was talking to on call. Because well… it was hot.

Skeppy couldn’t deny his emotions any longer. It was the home-stretch. Ride high or die. 

He clicked send. 

Skeppy was flooded with likes, and thousands and thousands of shippers flooding his comment section. 

@MYGOGYWASFOUND: NO WAY IS THIS REAL

@SKEPHALOSHIPPER202983092: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Skeppy chuckled. His work here was done. 

His phone pinged again as he saw Bad’s tweet. 

_ @BadBoyHalo: I hate you <3 get on discord _

Velvet had commented, Ant had commented, Vurb had commented, Spifey had commented. Already there were ten thousand replies to his tweet in a matter of a minute. 

His Discord began to ping. 

_ BadBoyHalo: You’re being an idiot on purpose now? _

_ BadBoyHalo: you’re that desperate for me to validate you? _

_ Skeppy: maybe i am _

_ Skeppy: cry harder _

Skeppy spun away from his desk, letting his phone and desktop ping repeatedly. It was like music to his ears. His symphony, perhaps unfinished, but glorious in its victory. 

He shut his eyes. Sleep settled over him, and Skeppy was ready. 


	7. Vodka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy's dreams are just getting weirder- and a little bit more spicy. After he wakes up though, his loneliness breaks through to him. 
> 
> Warning for alcohol here, and also it gets a little bit suggestive in this chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again: warnings for suggestive content, and alcohol use! 
> 
> We're getting near the end of this fanfic... but I hope I'll end it well. I don't really know where I'm going with this fic, I'll be real.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter: @honkphoenix :)

Skeppy was shocked when he didn’t wake up in the familiar dark forest. 

Instead, he woke up in his bedroom. But not like  _ that.  _ He still emerged deep in the hazy dream world, the colours a little bit off. 

What he didn’t expect was Bad sitting at a desk next to his desk. 

“Skeppy?” he said. It was undoubtedly him, wearing another blue hoodie from Skeppy’s merch. He walked slowly over to the bed where Skeppy was laying. 

“Oh Skeppy, you’ve been a little brat on purpose, huh?” he growled, sitting on the bed next to Skeppy, “I won’t let you piss me off.”

Skeppy was shocked by the words coming out of his mouth. All the syllables coming out of those soft, pink lips. 

“But-” Skeppy tried to say, but he was shut up with a kiss, which lingered for a little while before he pulled away.

“Mmhm. That’s what I thought.” Bad murmured quietly, his voice strong. 

Skeppy felt himself get picked up and lifted against the wall.

_ This got interesting- _

“You like that?” Bad whispered in his ear.

  
  


Skeppy jump-started out of his bed like a rocket launched into action. It was his shortest dream yet, but Skeppy knew that thought would linger for the rest of the day. He looked around his room, desperate that maybe Bad would be working at his desk. 

Nobody was there.

“That dream was interesting.” Skeppy muttered blankly, unable to process. It was weird. 

That dream was unmistakably odd. 

He lumbered over to his desk, where his phone was plagued with hundreds of notifications. He decided to sort through them on his computer instead, powering up the device and logging in. His Twitter paused to refresh, and there it was.  _ 20+ Notifications. _

Skeppy was almost ecstatic to open them, scrolling through his post and liking the replies.

@VelvetIsCake: the wattpad writes itself…

@ItsVurb: i almost don’t even know what to comment

@Spifeyy: uhhhh

@dreamwastaken: skephalo???

@urlocaldnfskephalo: I AM SPEEEEECHLESS- happytwt, u good?

He grinned as he scrolled through the endless sea of replies, all shocked, all supportive, but all of them were undoubtedly shipping him. 

He liked as many tweets about ‘Skephalo confirmed’ as he could, knowing that his likes were public. He almost wanted to click the button, call Bad, let Bad be mad at him. 

Alas, it appeared that Bad had been offline for hours. In fact, it was almost odd. Bad was never offline for more than nine hours at a time, but alas, his active status on Discord was still a dull grey. 

Maybe he was mad at him? That was probably it. 

Skeppy sighed, leaning back in his chair. He grabbed the black and red hoodie slumped over the back of the chair, pulling it over his head. He could go live in the hoodie. 

He’d done enough damage. It was Christmas Eve, he was alone, his best friend abandoned him, and all he had was his hoodie. Skeppy felt his bones whine as he got up slowly, managing to glumly drag himself to the kitchen. He grabbed the nearest bottle of alcohol in his cupboard. He hardly drank, he only ever decided to gulp down the stuff for public entertainment, or when guests were over.

Skeppy had ended up swallowing down too many shots of vodka. He had resorted to drinking it straight from the bottle, loving the feeling of warmth that enveloped his mind and body. The blurs twisted his vision, he felt tears drip slowly down his cheeks, but he didn’t really remember what he was crying about. 

“You don- you don’t have any friends…” Skeppy slurred into the mouth of the bottle, “not a single one… they all abandon- hic- abandon you, in the end…” 

He wasn’t feeling great, but he wasn’t feeling the worst either. He enjoyed feeling nothing, letting the thoughts be spoken and immediately forgotten.

“Bad… he’s hoooot…” Skeppy mumbled, and took another sip, “he doesn’t- hic- like you baccckkkk…”

He felt himself stumble back to his desk. It was like he was watching himself do things, a first-person movie.  _ 24th December. _

“You’re all aloooone… on Christmas- hic- Eve…” Skeppy murmured, “no familyyyy… I miss them…”

Skeppy dug his face into the fabric of the hoodie, “mmm. I miss him… Bad…” Skeppy said, in a questionable tone. 

He snapped another couple of photos of him in the hoodie, sending them to Bad.

_ Hey Bad, imm realalsy drunnk righiht nowww,, heiress me in ur hoodie :DD _

A couple of silent minutes went by, where Skeppy focused intently on his phone. Waiting, just maybe, that a notification would show up.

_ BadBoyHalo: why are u drunk u muffin!! Sorry i’ve been ia, been driving for errands (O_O) _

Skeppy breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn’t fucked it up yet. 

_ Yet. _

He crawled back into bed, aimlessly scrolling through Twitter until his eyes drooped shut. His dreams weren’t about Bad, rather about the hangover he might have tomorrow. And it was nice, to not have his horrible ghost haunting him.


	8. Christmas Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy wakes up with a terrible hangover, and a brilliant, brilliant Christmas gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @honkphoenix!!
> 
> This chapter and the next chapter will get super... interesting.
> 
> Skeppy gets a lil bold in this chapter

He was awoken by a loud knock on his door. Still in his sweats and red and black hoodie, he didn’t know if he really felt bothered to answer the door. 

It was Christmas, and here he was, a pulsing headache ripping through his skull, his eyes unable to focus on the room around him.

He felt himself move very slowly out of bed, and noticed how the rainbow lights of his Christmas tree mocked him, the lights making it hard to concentrate. 

_ Loser. _

Skeppy sniffed the hoodie again, engulfed in the scent of Bad. Skeppy felt himself almost cry, for the hundredth time this week. 

He looked through the peephole.

Skeppy questioned everything. 

_ Was he in a dream? Was he asleep? Why did this feel so realistic?  _

_ Why was he here? _

He opened the door, and watched dumbfounded as he moved. It was undoubtedly him, the veins in his hands, the hoodie delicately draped over a slightly muscular frame, his messy hair and the shine of his glasses frame. 

“B…” he could hardly form a word, his thoughts dying quicker than they came. It was him, not some sort of strange figment of his twisted, overobsessed mind. 

“Are you…” Skeppy inhaled deeply, “are you real?”

“Mm.” he said.

It was Bad.

“Skeppy.” Bad muttered, his voice somewhat shaky as well. Words didn’t exist, time seemed to halt, his breaths were difficult to suck in. His heart beat like a jackhammer in his ribcage. Bad opened his arms wide, and Skeppy felt everything in his mind go quiet as he collapsed into him.

Quiet. It was like he had collapsed back into the clutches of dreamland.  _ This can’t be real. _

He had inhaled deeply, and almost crumbled at the way the man he was holding exhaled and moved. Skeppy’s head was tucked into the crook of Bad’s neck, he didn’t want to move.

_ It was the moment. _

Skeppy didn’t know how long the hug had lasted, perhaps it could have been a couple seconds to the normal person, to the person that wasn’t undoubtedly obsessed. He felt his heart weep as Bad pulled away. Would they ever hug like that again? Or was that it?

Maybe that would be the last time him and Bad would feel the same physical connection.

“Merry Christmas.” Bad said quietly, as he looked back awkwardly at the luggage behind him. 

“Is there anything else I can take in for you?” Skeppy asked softly, trying so desperately to keep his mind afloat. Not sink back into the dangerous ocean which had drowned him for the past weeks. There he was, his demons, standing in front of him. Smiling at him.

Bad nodded, with a small grin which felt almost patronising to Skeppy. Here was the representation of everything ailing him, showing up to his door on Christmas Day. All he could offer was his stupid grin. His adorable grin.

Skeppy followed the older man to his car, where he watched as Bad lifted up the door of the boot. 

His eyes almost instinctively move to his biceps, and then to his expression, as Bad’s face hardened with effort. 

“Is it okay if you take this one?” Bad asked gently, and Skeppy accepted the suitcase, unable to pull his eyes away from the others’.

Once he was inside, Bad began to explain his situation. 

“Okay, so initially I booked a hotel room, so I could surprise visit you at your house-” he rambled, and Skeppy was only half-focused on his words, admiring only his features as he moved, “but then… listen, the hotel had shut down by the time I got here. Predicament. So…”

He watched Bad’s chest rise and fall as he spoke.

“So I was wondering if you had like- a room- or anything for me to sleep in?” Bad stumbled, before defending himself, “obviously you don’t have to, if it falls through, I’ll find somewhere, it’s my fault for being a muffin and trying to surprise you-”

Skeppy felt his skin burn hot, and he spoke too fast to be innocent. “No- no, it’s fine. I have a spare room.”

He felt flustered as he made his way to the spare room, which had been untouched for a while. He wasn’t used to people coming to visit him, he hardly made time for his friends that weren’t seen via Discord calls or Facetime videos.

It was probably the neatest room in the house, a clean desk and bed made the room seem cold. The window shone grey light. It was cloudy outside, the chilly winter air was blocked out in the house, for now.

Bad sat down on the bed, and waited for Skeppy to join him, fiddling with the white cotton sheets underneath him. You could have cut the tension with a knife, it was like suffocating sheets of silk draping over every movement. 

“I just… can’t believe that it’s you.” Skeppy whispered. 

“Who else would it be?” Bad chuckled, moving his hand ever so slightly closer to Skeppy’s as he adjusted his seating. 

Skeppy felt the same warmness revive on his already hot face, “you’re not… in a dream. It’s actually you.”

Bad narrowed his eyes.

“You dream about me?” 

“Sometimes.”

Bad looked a little flustered at the statement. He moved his hand away, standing up quickly. 

“How are we supposed to announce this to those muffins at home? They will lose their MINDS.” Bad said, far too quickly. Skeppy grinned. He had made him nervous with his admission. 

“I think I’ve already made them do that.” Skeppy smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Bad sighed shakily, “somehow you’re more of a muffin in real life than online. But alas, you are correct.”

“Let’s just take a picture together.” Skeppy thought aloud, picking up his phone which had been tossed messily on the bed.

“But Geppy… I look bad- I just drove for hours!” Bad whined, ruffling his hair with his hand. Skeppy had to physically force his own eyes away from the sight. 

“You don’t look bad,” Skeppy said, “you look good. C’mon, let’s just take the selfie. It’ll be funny! C’moooon.”

Skeppy walked out the door, clutching his phone. Bad followed him to the living room, where Skeppy sat in front of the Christmas tree. 

“Please?” he whimpered, with puppy-dog eyes. His big brown eyes always worked wonders when he needed to get what he wanted, he had been using that to his advantage since he was a little boy.

Bad fell for it. He sat down next to Skeppy, sighing reluctantly as Skeppy angled the camera. 

“Say cheese!” 

“Cheese…” Bad muttered with a smile, before sighing into a frown, “this better be good.”

“Ooh, trust me, it is. But only because of you.” he said, looking up from his phone with a wink. He looked back down, watching from his peripherals as the pale man turned a beetroot red. 

“Oh, my god. Shut up.” Bad drawled, his face still captured in pink. 

Skeppy raised an eyebrow. “Make me.”

Bad flushed an almost scarlet-crimson colour, with a little embarrassed ‘hmmmm’. 

“What should I make the caption? C’mon, you’re the brains here.” Skeppy said, almost impressed that he had gotten away with the previous line. 

“Uhhh…” Bad mumbled, his voice a little shaken, “maybe just something simple. Like ‘Merry Christmas’. It doesn’t really matter, it’s the photo that matters.”

“Whatever you say. I’m gonna post it.” Skeppy quipped, and Bad watched as he clicked send. 

Skeppy giggled at the comments ticking up by the hundreds. 

“Well. Merry Christmas, I guess.” Bad muttered, “if it isn’t too much trouble, do you have any food, or anything?”

“Oh yeah, of course! Let me just get some chips or something-” Skeppy rambled, running to the kitchen. 

_ He was here. Actually. And he hadn’t woken up yet.  _


	9. Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy asks Bad to slow dance. What he doesn't expect is how Bad reacts.

The awkward tension had now been broken by small-talk, and now they sat and laughed at the responses to tweets, videos they saw, admired music they listened to. Skeppy was also delighted by the snow which had been falling. 

He was about to do something stupid. Really, really fucking stupid. 

But like he said, if Bad wanted to play hard-to-get, it was clear Skeppy had to play harder than he could evade. He was going easy, but now that dusk had settled on the house, he knew that he couldn’t let Bad hide under the cover of darkness.

“So, Bad,” Skeppy asked, “are you much of a dancer?  _ A slow dancer?” _

The tension was back, a little bit thicker than before. It felt like the conversation had been soaked in thick honey, sickly sweet.

Bad shook his head. “I’ve already told you that before. I’m not.”

Skeppy took a deep breath. They were both so dumb, for playing their cards like this. 

“Can…” he paused, “can I teach you?”

He watched as Bad put down his phone and raised his eyebrows, he wasn’t blushing quite as hard, but it was there. The sprinkling of pink on his cheeks sent a rush of pure euphoria through Skeppy. 

“I mean- I don’t really see why not…” Bad looked around nervously, “you’re such a muffinhead.”

Skeppy giggled, stretching his hand out to the older man.

“Please, take my hand, mi amor!” he could hardly speak without bursting into giggles. 

Bad exhaled, and placed his large hand in the boy’s smaller one. Skeppy felt like there was a glowing light from their connecting palms. 

“This is so dumb…” Bad grumbled, but he still didn’t hesitate as Skeppy dragged him towards the living room. The sky outside twinkled with a dusting of stars. It was still a little bit light, because the sun had only just set.

Skeppy already had his speaker set up, and he still held Bad’s hand tightly as the song began to play.

(Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex - Slowed is playing, for reference)

Skeppy clicked record on his phone camera, but Bad was seemingly unaware. Instead he was watching the boy with intent, some kind of yearning. Or maybe it was just Skeppy’s mind at work.

His voice was soft, “I’ve only slow-danced once before, Geppy. With my ex-girlfriend.”

Skeppy didn’t know a thing about Bad’s previous love life, and frankly, he had no reason to care. 

“I’ll be better than her,” he murmured confidently, “c’mon. Hands on my shoulders.”

Bad, very slowly, and very very gently, draped his arms over Skeppy’s shoulders. It was like he was scared he would break Skeppy. 

Guess he didn’t know that he already did. 

Skeppy put his hands on Bad’s waist, and watched how the man turned pink at the contact. Here they were, ready to slowdance, but not ready to admit the feelings being felt or the situation being experienced. 

Bad could hardly look into the other man’s eyes, looking down at Skeppy’s shoes. 

_ You leapt from crumbling bridges, watching cityscapes turn to dust _

Skeppy, moved his left foot. 

“Move with me. Slowly.” he instructed. 

He swayed with Bad like two puzzles might click together. 

_ Filming helicopters crashing in the ocean, from way above _

He felt Bad’s head nuzzle into his neck, which made him flush hot, but he kept moving. Composure. 

_ Got the music in you, baby, tell me why _

_ Got the music in you, baby, tell me why _

They moved together, as one, as an entity of pure glowing light and music and all things good in the world. 

It wasn’t quite happiness, but it was a sense of pure satisfaction which Skeppy hadn’t felt in a long time. 

He had done his magic. And clearly Bad was enjoying it. 

_ You’ve been locked in there forever, and they just can’t say goodbye. _

Bad let out a little  _ hrrrm _ , which sent vibrations down his neck. Skeppy felt intoxicated by the presence of Bad in his arms, with his arms over his shoulders, head in his neck.

_ Kisses on the foreheads of the lovers wrapped in your arms _

_ You’ve been hiding them in hollowed out pianos left in the dark _

Skeppy felt Bad look up at him, with eyes wet with new-formed tears. 

“This is nice.” Bad muttered, as he buried his head back into Skeppy’s neck.

_ Your lips, my lips _

Skeppy mouthed the lyrics of the song, watching as Bad lifted his head up again to watch.

He watched those soft lips move, open with a happy, almost purr, and suddenly, his head lifted all the way up. They were now eye-to-eye. 

His green eyes pierced into Skeppy’s big brown ones. It wasn’t tension in the room, rather like they were watching from outside their own bodies. Feeling themselves move, but not really registering the thought process.

_ Apocalypse _

“Your lips, my lips.” Skeppy whispered, only really half singing. Surely this would be the moment he woke up, flying himself out of bed like a faulty car jump-starting. 

But he didn’t wake up. The colours weren’t all washed out, he wasn’t snapping out of it, instead he was here, slow  _ fucking  _ dancing with his partner in crime. And to think this all started with a song that Bad sent him, that one late night.

The song that drove him insane, made the world around him fall apart. 

The song that made the whole world Bad.

He felt Bad’s eyes sneak closer to his.

_ Apocalypse _

Skeppy’s heart was like a free bird, watching Bad’s lips move closer to his. Those lips looked so soft, so kissable.

They connected.

He felt himself be twisted inside out, his emotions out and exposed to Bad. Vulnerable, kissing him. 

Love was being vulnerable, but still feeling safe. And that’s exactly how Skeppy felt right now.

They parted, and Bad’s face was like a beetroot. 

“Geppy…”

“Skeppy what?” Skeppy said softly, like he was talking to a baby animal.

Bad didn’t respond with words, rather another satisfied ‘hrrrn’. 

They stood there, only very slightly moving after that, waiting as the music played out. Bad stepped back out of Skeppy’s grasp. 

“That wasn’t so bad.” Skeppy murmured. 

“I-I guess it wasn’t- but can we just…” Bad sighed, “can we just pretend that whole- you know what- thing didn’t happen?”

Skeppy giggled, “it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Bad had an unamused expression.

“Be quiet, Skeppy. I’m gonna make some dinner for you, it’s the least I can do.” he said, his voice flat.  _ Uh oh. _

Skeppy walked over to his phone, and paused the recording. At least, if it fell through, if Bad never spoke to him again, he could watch the video and imagine that he did. 


	10. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy starts a stream with Bad, which ends up in a loud fight, but in the end, a confession. 
> 
> Notes at the end.

Dinner was a struggle. They had steak, and it was good, but there was another problem. 

Bad.

He sat at the table, spitefully glaring at his food. 

“So.” Skeppy said, trying to lighten the mood. “What do you want to do in LA?”

Bad’s head perked up at this, understanding the cue. 

“Oh, well- this is a little bit unrelated, but we should do a stream together.” Bad said, taking a bite of the food.

“Yeah! What about tonight- I mean, first, we didn’t check the comments of that post.” Skeppy changed topics faster than he could think, grabbnig his phone from the table. The device was illuminated by the glowing night.

He checked the comments, and began to giggle as he read them.

@GOGCHAMPERS: NO WAY IS THIS REAL HELP

@Spifeyy: WHY DID U GUYS NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS

@JustVurb: Now kiss

@Dream: we were waiting

@GeorgeNotFound replied to @Dream: us next :blushing_face:

@skephaloshipperr: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A majority of the comments were in caps, mostly screaming. 

“What are they saying?” Bad queried, taking another bite of food. 

“Vurb being Vurb, but mostly just screaming.”

“So, you were right.” Bad cocked his head, trying to see the phone. Skeppy shut off the phone, instead pulling himself out of his chair and placing his plate by the sink, watching as Bad finished his final bite.

“I was going to say it’s too late, but I could stay up for this.” Bad admitted, “let’s get started.”

“But Skeppy! They’re gonna see me without the filter!” Bad cried from outside the camera frame.

“I already told you, you look good. Let’s staaaaart.” Skeppy pleaded. 

He heard a grumble as Bad reluctantly nodded. 

“Okay, okay, okay, now be quiet really quick.” Skeppy whispered, “and be still. It’s gonna be a surprise.”

“Alright, alright.” Bad agreed, and suddenly the adrenaline started to pulse through Skeppy’s veins. So it began, he was revealed to the thousands of viewers, his viewers spiking in the tens of thousands, his chat flooded with  _ WHERES BAD  _ and other variants.

“I’m sorry chat, he went home. He could only stay for a bit, and obviously it didn’t seem smart to stream when he was super tired. Maybe we’ll see him soon, though.” Skeppy falsely explained. 

_ JayWasTakennn: HE’S LYING _

Skeppy smirked at the message, but nevertheless he opened Minecraft, his fingers flying over the keys as he played the game, making comments throughout the whole thing. He had fooled them, for now. They believed it, and it made Skeppy grin. 

“I’m sorry, I got to go to the bathroom.” Skeppy lied, putting down his headset. The chat was spammed with  _ BYE SKEPPYYY,  _ and he very quietly waved a signal to Bad. Bad crawled to just under the camera frame, before popping up into the frame.

“Why hello.”

The chat went wild. 

Bad stood into the frame, bending his knees just a little to put his face into frame. Skeppy launched himself back into the frame, throwing his arms over Bad’s shoulders and tucking his chin over.

“SURPRISE!” Skeppy yelled, which made Bad flinch. 

“Skeppy- not so loud!” Bad yelped, and Skeppy pulled away from Bad’s shoulders, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

In just five minutes, the audience from Twitter flooded the chat with ‘omg’s and ‘aaaaaaaa’s. 

“So, donos are on. Ask us anything.” Skeppy had pulled up a second chair next to his, where Bad sat with a pleasant smile on his face.

“Height check?” a dono spoke. Skeppy and Bad grinned, looking each other in the eyes, before standing up against Skeppy’s wall. 

“I can’t really tell who’s taller-” Bad said quickly. 

“It’s me.” Skeppy said confidently. “I’m taller.”

“Tell us chat,” Bad insisted, “I’m surely taller than this  _ muffinhead. _ ”

The chat was spammed with  _ Bad’s taller  _ and  _ Skeppy’s taller _ , before a poll started. They both watched, entranced, as the votes ticked up for both sides. 

_ Bad taller: 60% _

_ Skeppy taller: 40% _

“Ahhh, fuck.” Skeppy muttered, before getting slapped quite hard by Bad.

“LANGUAGE!” Bad cried. 

“Ahhh- why’d you have to hit me so hard?” 

“I didn’t!” Bad whined, “maybe I’m just that strong.”

“Oh my god, shut up.” Skeppy grumbled, before turning back to the camera.

Their bickering was interrupted by another donation.

“You guys should kiss. Winking face.” the dono read.

_ Weirdchamp,  _ the chat spammed.

Skeppy wiggled his eyebrows at Bad, and Bad turned a violent shade of pink. 

He leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He watched contently as all colour drained from Bad’s face and then returned with an even darker shade of rose.

“SGEPPY!” Bad jumped, his face utterly shocked, “why did you do that in front of everyone?” his voice was quiet. 

“It was funny. And the dono asked.” Skeppy said frankly, “awww, couldn’t handle it? Sad.” 

“Skeppy, what is a song that reminds you of Bad? Bad said Ride With U reminds him of you, what’s your song?” the robotic voice asked. 

“Apocalypse. By Cigarettes After Sex-” 

“LANGUAGE!”

“Well, I feel like the calmness of the song is an energy which only fits Bad.” Skeppy explained. He watched as Bad’s face formed into a criminal smirk. 

“No other reason?” 

Skeppy’s breath hitched in his throat. “N-nope.”

“Hmmm, alright.” Bad raised an eyebrow, watching him with intent. 

Skeppy coughed, releasing the stark tension building there. 

_ He WOULD try and embarrass me in front of a hundred thousand people. Little bitch.  _

“Keep the questions coming!” Skeppy said, a smile crawling back on his face.

“Where’s Rat?” the monotone robot voice read. 

Bad sighed with a frown, “I left Rat with a dog sitter. She’ll be fine. It would have been bad to bring her, it’s a long drive.”

“Awww, I wanted to pet Rat in real liiiiife.” Skeppy whined, extending his vowels. 

“Maybe one day,” Bad yawned, “but not today.”

“The tension in this room… blushing face emoji.” the robot read.

Skeppy’s eyes darted to Bad’s and they connected with silence. 

“What are you implying, dono?” Skeppy cocked his head, before bursting into laughter. 

“Huh?” Bad feigned his persona, acting like he didn’t understand the donation. 

Skeppy giggled before raising his eyebrows at Bad with a devilish grin. 

The chat, for the hundredth time, exploded. 

This went on for a while, about half an hour of responding to donations, some a little awkward, some very strange, but overall, the viewers seemed to be appeased.

“Well, I better wrap up the stream. One last dono.”

“Why did you give Skeppy one of your hoodies?” a donation read. 

Skeppy felt the air in his lungs vanish as he looked at Bad expectantly for the answer. 

“Uh.” Bad mumbled, beginning to fidget. 

“Well?” Skeppy asked with an evil smirk, “what’s the answer?”

“Ahem, well they didn’t have enough left over- so I just decided to be a good friend and gave him one of mine.” Bad explained, desperately trying to hint at Skeppy to end the stream. 

“Well, all my friends got new ones. What happened there?” Skeppy cocked an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. 

Bad looked incredibly flustered. “Well, I only realised there weren’t enough when I got to yours.”

Skeppy turned back to the monitor. “I’m gonna wrap up the stream. Thanks for coming out!” 

Bad nodded, but didn’t speak. 

“SUBSCRIBE WITH PRIMEEEEEE-” the stream cut out. 

Skeppy’s ecstatic expression immediately morphed back into his wicked sneer. “Well. Bad. Are you gonna answer the question?”

Bad’s face was red. “Well.”

“Well what? Well?” Skeppy queried. 

“Well. Because we’re friends, right? Best friends.”

“I think we both know that’s not the truth.” Skeppy said. 

And just like that, the bomb had dropped. He had admitted to the feelings between them, the feelings which seemed to pull them like magnets towards each other. 

“Skeppy.” Bad said, his voice void of any hint of emotion. 

“Skeppy what? Don’t play dumb, Bad.” Skeppy said, his voice rising with annoyance. 

Bad’s face also seemed to change, “don’t say I’m playing dumb! Don’t you know how bad this will be for our careers?”

“Is your work more important than your family? Because that seems to be what you’re saying!” Skeppy’s voice was loud, it pierced his own eardrums, but he just wanted to get out everything he had tried to hide under lingered gazes and nervous blushing. 

“I never said that! Stop taking MY words, out of context! Listen Skeppy, if they find out, they’ll just- it just can’t happen.” Bad cried out, before he flinched at Skeppy’s reaction. 

The tears spilled out of Skeppy too fast, embarrassingly fast. 

“So is that it? You’re just gonna- okay.” Skeppy’s breath was quick, as he tried to calm down his overwhelmed brain. 

_ That’s it. Rejection.  _

Bad had to be the one to cut the puppet strings that seemed to control their hearts. But it hurt. 

He had obsessed over this for nothing. 

“Skeppy, I-”

“Skeppy, what? Skeppy this, Skeppy that.” he lashed out, his mind resorting to anger. Bad must hate him now, if he didn’t before. 

He heard Bad sigh, but at that point it was like a distant noise. 

“Just tell me you hate me.”

Bad’s face softened into a sympathetic expression. “Skeppyyy, I don’t hate you.”

“Well clearly you don’t like me.” Skeppy was acting like a child, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to look at Bad, look at his pretty face ever again. He hated looking at Bad, and seeing those lips which had kissed him so lovingly, those eyes which had looked into his soul, and that head which had been sunk into his neck while they danced.

Skeppy hated how beautiful Bad was.

His pitiful gaze was patronising to him. 

“No, Skeppy-” Bad exhaled with a deep sigh, pressing his fingers against his temples. “I- you’re a good person, it just wouldn’t be best to…  _ y’know? _ ”

“No, Bad,” Skeppy mocked, “I don’t know. Please, inform me why me and you are a bad idea.”

He could see tears welling up in Bad’s eyes, as his expression crumpled. 

“Guess it really was just a thing in my fucking head.” Skeppy spat. 

The song. It was the thing that originally pulled him apart, made his heart trail a different course. 

“Skeppy.” Bad only spoke a single word before throwing himself into the shorter boy. 

“What are you-” Skeppy could hardly focus with Bad nuzzled into the fabric of his chest. 

“Skeppy… I’m just so confused. I don’t really know what we are… I don’t know…”

He couldn’t even be mad as Bad sobbed into the hoodie. 

“It’s just- this shouldn’t be a thing, but it is, and I don’t want it to be.” Bad whimpered. “But it’s just- you.”

Skeppy felt the same light which he had chased in his dreams glow from the man in his arms. 

“Don’t deny your own feelings, Bad.” Skeppy said gently, lifting up a hand to filter it through Bad’s brown hair. They were both standing in the middle of Skeppy’s room, just being, feeling, letting their emotions control them together as one. 

“I’m scared.” 

“Face your fears.” Skeppy said quietly.

Bad let out another quiet whimper as he pulled himself away from the hoodie.

“You look pretty in my hoodie.” he said, almost so quiet it was inaudible. 

Skeppy’s face was hot, it was like Bad was trying to stir in as many emotions to the pot as he could.

“You’re trying to distract me. Is it a yes or a no?” Skeppy said, quietly but also somewhat firm in its tone. There wasn’t a question, but they both knew what it implied. 

Bad sighed, another tear rolling down his cheek. 

“It’s a…” Bad paused, perhaps it was only for a second, but to Skeppy, it was like five minutes. “Something. Listen Skeppy, I don’t know.”

“Well, you enjoy my company.”

“But it was like that before this whole… thing. I had feelings, but then you began to reciprocate them-” Bad bit down on his tongue to stop talking. 

“You… had feelings for me- before? Since when?” Skeppy tried to process. So, all those phone calls, where they had messed around in a Hypixel lobby, or trolled players on MunchyMC… he had felt the same way Skeppy had to Bad?

“A m-month ago. I don’t know how to feel now that you’re here.”

Skeppy’s heart dropped. 

“Are you sad that I wasn’t up to your expectations?”

“No, Skeppy.” Bad sobbed. “I’m sad that you are.”

Skeppy paused to register the information. Did he feel the same sickening butterflies flutter nauseatingly in his stomach?

“It’s a yes, Skeppy. As much as it hurts me to say it.” 

He felt his heart melt. 

“A yes.” he said in disbelief.

“Yes, Skeppy.”

  
  


Skeppy couldn’t quite believe what had happened. He sat there for a while, with Bad standing in his arms. 

Neither of them could muster the courage to speak. 

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Skeppy said, very quietly. 

“Mmm.” Bad hummed in agreement. He laughed loudly as he scooped Skeppy up in his arms, his slight muscles flexing as he carried him through the house.

“I’ve waited for this one.” Bad whispered, which made Skeppy smile. 

He dropped him on the plush sofa, giggling as Skeppy made a little ‘oof’ sound. He promptly followed him, and picked up the remote. 

“I don’t really care what we watch.” Skeppy said quietly, burying his head into Bad’s chest. “I just like being here with you.”

As the movie began to play, it felt like the noise was distant. 

He was there, with Bad, after all those highs and lows and ups and downs. 

Bad was here, and exactly in the way Skeppy wanted him to be. 

He loved him. 

It was enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for 1100 reads! And for all the people who commented, I love you (mwah). 
> 
> I might write a fic of their escapades in L.A. if this fic gets any more attention! I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> A new DNF fic is coming soon, dreamnotfound enthusiasts keep updated ;)
> 
> Love u guys :)
> 
> If you want to see more updates, or epic tweets, follow me on Twitter: @honkphoenix


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